The present invention relates generally to inkjet printheads, and more particularly to a wide-array inkjet printhead assembly.
A conventional inkjet printing system includes a printhead, an ink supply which supplies liquid ink to the printhead, and an electronic controller which controls the printhead. The printhead ejects ink drops through a plurality of orifices or nozzles and toward a print medium, such as a sheet of paper, so as to print onto the print medium. Typically, the orifices are arranged in one or more arrays such that properly sequenced ejection of ink from the orifices causes characters or other images to be printed upon the print medium as the printhead and the print medium are moved relative to each other.
In one arrangement, commonly referred to as a wide-array inkjet printing stem, a plurality of individual printheads, also referred to as printhead dies, are mounted on a single carrier. As such, a number of nozzles and, therefore, an overall number of ink drops which can be ejected per second is increased. Since the overall number of drops which can be ejected per second is increased, printing speed can be increased with the wide-array inkjet printing system.
Mounting a plurality of printhead dies on a single carrier, however, requires that the single carrier perform several functions including fluid and electrical routing as well as printhead die support. More specifically, the single carrier must accommodate communication of ink between the ink supply and each of the printhead dies, accommodate communication of electrical signals between the electronic controller and each of the printhead dies, and provide a stable support for each of the printhead dies. Unfortunately, effectively combining these functions in one unitary structure is difficult.
Accordingly, a need exists for a carrier which provides support for a plurality of printhead dies while accommodating fluidic and electrical routing to each of the printhead dies.
One aspect of the present invention provides a fluid ejection assembly. The fluid ejection assembly includes a carrier including a substrate and an electrical circuit with the substrate having a first side and a second side opposite the first side and the electrical circuit being disposed on the second side of the substrate, a fluid ejection device mounted on the first side of the substrate, and at least one electrical connector electrically coupled to the electrical circuit and the fluid ejection device, wherein the electrical circuit includes a printed circuit board such that the printed circuit board and the substrate both have at least one fluid passage extending therethrough with the at least one fluid passage communicating with the first side of the substrate and the fluid ejection device.